


What Makes You

by Narcissisticpeacock



Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: Core Memories, F/F, Magical Artifacts, Moving On, girls kissin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-13
Updated: 2019-03-13
Packaged: 2019-11-16 12:33:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18094397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Narcissisticpeacock/pseuds/Narcissisticpeacock
Summary: When "liberating" some treasure from a very old shrine, Nadine is given the opportunity to view the memories that make her partner who she is.





	What Makes You

**Author's Note:**

> so i watched Inside Out (finally) so i had to write something memory related. it also gave me the chance to write little Chloe, and her dad.

“Well. We’ve found it.”

Nadine stares at the dilapidated structure before her. It's been mostly lost to time and the forest around them. The door is barely visible, nothing more than a hole in what looks to be the side of a mountain. It could be a cave, but the maps Chloe's been pouring over for the past month have led them here. Besides some rotting support beams, there's no evidence anyone has ever lived here. Ivy hangs down from higher up the mountain, nearly covering the entrance. Directly in front of the opening is a fallen tree, covered in moss.

“You're sure?”

“Yup. It's right where all the maps join up. And the location makes sense; it's tucked under the highest point of this mountain.”

Chloe's eyes are searching the scene, taking in every detail and already trying to find trinkets for them to make money off of. One hand has fingers on her ruby bracelet.

“See, up here, they're close to the sun. And this temple, supposedly, is related to the Ise Grand Shrine in Mie. So… alright, listen, I've read what I could, but I don’t have it all down yet. But this temple, it was forgotten. Abandoned. And… should have a nice treasure in here for us. Very little was able to be salvaged when this was destroyed. What we just hiked through-- some of it would’ve been rice paddies, a long time ago. Some sort of event-- the texts aren’t clear, not really-- but it could’ve been bad storms or an earthquake? But this was already so far from help that it didn’t matter.” She waves a hand, as though dismissing an unheard comment. “Had to do some digging to get here, but... Here we are.”

“You’re certain it was worth the effort?”

Chloe scoffs. “Ye of little faith. One of the items said to be lost was a “mirror covered in gems”. Apparently for “introspection”. Not to mention some ritual weapons. All of which will fetch a good price. Besides, even if we don’t find anything, we had a nice vacation here.” She shoots Nadine a wink. “And if you need more, I’ll make it worth your while.”

Nadine doesn’t respond. Instead, she kicks at the log in front of the entrance. It seems to be mostly intact. She shrugs her backpack off; it’s filled with a couple different water bottles and a few other necessities for hiking. She rolls her shoulders and kneels, hands grabbing at the mossy trunk. She has to strain but she feels it give after a moment. She rolls it back towards her. When there’s room for them to get in, she stops and stands.

Chloe is staring.

“What?”

She grins. “Nothing, love. Just enjoying the view.”

Nadine rolls her eyes. She enjoys the attention occasionally, but Chloe is just so open with it. It’s fine when they’re alone with each other, but when she persists in public...

There’s a chill in the air. It’s more apparent now that they’ve stopped. The hike up had been intensive. Nadine found it refreshing. Chloe found it tiring.

Despite the chill, there's a warm draft wafting out of the entrance. It's curious, but Chloe speaks up as if she knows Nadine's thoughts.

“There are known hot springs in the area. Onsen, they're called here. Wouldn't be surprised if there were a few in there.” She bites her lip, still grinning a bit. “Care to skinny dip if we find some?”

Nadine just rolls her eyes again, but let's herself smile, just a bit. Enough for Chloe to know she's not really annoyed.

Chloe's quickly distracted, though. Her hand is back on her bracelet and her eyes are scanning the indent Nadine has just rolled the tree out of. Nadine knows that look. She's certain there's some sort of trinket close by. Sure enough, after another thirty seconds or so, Chloe shoots forward and plucks a coin from the dirt. She wipes what she can off of it, showing the glint of gold.

“Aha!”

Nadine hums. “Don't know how you always do that.”

“Talent, my dear. Pure talent.”

She snorts in response, but she doesn't argue it. Instead, she pulls out her flashlight. “Frazer, let's head in.”

Chloe nods as she shoves the coin into a pocket. “Should we leave our packs here?”

Nadine thinks for a moment. She holds her hand out to take Chloe’s pack. It’s lighter than her own, but for good reason. She’d rather carry the brunt of it if it means keeping Chloe in a better mood. Her own pack carries the extra water as well as their sleeping bags, should this take longer than expected. It’s already afternoon. Chloe’s pack carries a few MREs, her primary water bottle, and a few small trinkets she’d found on their way up the mountain. Nadine doesn’t bother making Chloe carry too much when she ends up passing off her pack to climb trees or squeeze into small spaces to grab something shiny.

“We’ll hang them in a tree for now. Keep the critters out of it.”

“Are there many critters that would want it?”

Nadine shrugs. “Probably not, but it’s better not to test them. Might be flying squirrels about. Maybe badgers. Not sure for this landscape. Shouldn’t run into an Ussuri. They’re rare enough.”

“Ussuri?”

“Like a black grizzly bear. They’re one of the biggest brown bears, almost as big as a kodiak. We’re more likely to see a bat than a bear. Japan has lots of different bat breeds, depending on the island.” She spreads her hands wide. “My favourite, the Bonin flying fox, has a wingspan of almost eighty centimeters.”

Chloe smiles at her. “Is there a place we can see them before we leave Japan?”

Nadine looks up, only just containing her excitement. “Maybe. I can find out when we head back.”

“It’s a date.”

Nadine forces herself to ignore that phrase. She focuses on getting their packs tied up.

She and Chloe are… Nadine doesn’t know. But she cares about Chloe. More than could ever be smart in their line of work, but Nadine finds she doesn’t care. As long as she’s at Chloe’s side, things will be okay. And certainly some sort of exciting. Chloe is affectionate with her. Unashamedly so. Maybe they're already on the edge of being what they could be.

Chloe leads the way inside, as she usually does in their adventures. It can make Nadine nervous at times. If Nadine leads, she could ensure the way is safe for Chloe and take any blows or traps that might await ahead. She’s implied as much to Chloe, but she had only been scoffed at in return.

The immediate entrance is half collapsed. They have to crouch to move forward until it opens up a bit.

Their flashlights reveal cracked stone walls with intricate designs down them. Most of the paint has faded, but in some places, there is still some trace of vibrancy. There are the final leftovers of support planks rotting on the floor. Still, they continue in farther. Chloe oohs and ahhs over some of the faded designs, tracing them with her fingertips.

Farther in they find a hallway deeper in. It’s better preserved than the entrance, so they’re able to stand up all the way.

“Can you imagine what this would’ve looked like back then?” Chloe is shining her light onto a golden design in the side of the hall. It still glints brightly, suggesting it’s some small amount of actual gold pressed into the wall.

The further down the hall they go, the warmer it gets. It’s faintly humid, too, like a bathroom is after a shower.

“God, I hope there’s a hot spring down here. I could go for a relaxing dip after that damn hike.”

“Maybe we should just patronize one of the ones near the city. Rather than risk burning ourselves in an unmonitored one.”

Chloe scoffs. “We won’t boil ourselves. If it’s too hot, we just get out.”

“Yellowstone park in the states has hot springs that are well over two hundred degrees Celsius,” she comments. “That’s more than severe burns. That’s death, to hop in.”

“Jesus. Where’d you pick up that fact?”

“Was reading about the animals they have there and I stumbled across it.”

Chloe glances back at her, a small smirk on her lips. “You? Researching animals in your spare time? Wildly out of character, that.”

Nadine rolls her eyes at the sarcasm.

They reach the end of the hall and it opens up into a wider room. The humidity is high here, and the cause is all around the edges of the chamber. Pools of water are, for the most part, contained in what were once small pools and channels around the chamber. Most have overflowed at least a touch, spilling onto the walkways. The path at the entrance is dry as can be in such humid surroundings.

Chloe shoots forward before Nadine can stop her, and shoves a hand into one of the pools.

The water, thankfully, is not so hot it’s painful. Instead, she practically moans as she moves her hand around. “This is heaven, China. We’ve got to go for a soak before we leave, absolutely have to.”

Nadine purses her lips but doesn’t respond. Instead, she looks around. The center of the room has another wall, some sort of stonework fabrication, that blocks off another part of the chamber. Before she can get around it, she sees a glint in the water.

“See that?” she asks, motioning Chloe over. “Something in the water.”

Chloe appears at her side, eager to spot what might be treasure. Her hand is on her bracelet again.

“Ooh,” she nearly coos as she spots it. She has no qualms about getting her boots wet; she steps into ankle deep water to grab whatever Nadine has spotted.

She pulls out a short blade. It’s silver in the dim light. The handle is jeweled and lined with gold.

“Nicely spotted, love. Imagine the pretty penny this will pull in-- Pretty sure it’s some sort of tantō. Samurai used to kill themselves with these sorts of things.”

“Seppuku?” she questions.

“Ah, that was one. The formal one, if I remember right. The other was harakiri. A sort of last-ditch effort if you’re in a losing battle and don’t want to be captured.”

Chloe examines the blade close, tracing along it. “It’s in good shape. Made from silver, probably. Not even a nick on the edge-- ouch!”

“Be careful,” Nadine chastises. “Are you alright?”

“Just a little cut. How good is a blade if it’s still sharp after all these years?”

Nadine takes it from her. “Put pressure on it. I’ll go get the med pack, we can--”

Chloe tsks, cutting her off. “I’m fine, China. Promise. It’s barely more than a paper cut.”

She frowns and sets the blade aside, where they can grab it on their way out. Better that than carry it with them if it’s that sharp. Better that than let Chloe, who she’s found to be more accident prone rather than less, hurt herself again.

Chloe leads the way past the stone wall. It hides the entrance to another room on the other side. The flashlight shows only darkness past the doorway.

“Spooky,” Chloe comments.

Nadine stays silent.

The room beyond is larger than the one they’ve just left, and the floor is considerably less flooded. Chloe is only just through the doorway when there’s the scrape of metal on stone.

Nadine pushes her forward, out of the way, and takes the blow of-- well, of whatever has just fallen.

It glances off her shoulder, tearing through her shirt like paper.

“Eish,” she grunts as she rights herself.

“Are you okay?” Chloe’s voice is on the edge of panic.

She grimaces as she rolls her shoulder but nods. “Ja. Think so. Look at it for me?”

Chloe, concern on her face, shines her flashlight on her shoulder. “Okay… Looks like it tore your shirt. You’ve got a bit of a scape here, but I know you’ve had your tetanus shot, so you should be fine.” She brings her palm over it. “Barely even bled. You might get a bruise though.”

“I can handle a bruise.”

Nadine points her flashlight at the ground, looking for whatever fell. The light hits a twisted piece of rusted metal. She spots at the edge of the doorway, a snapped bit of string. “Looks like an old light fixture, hastily changed into a trap. We must’ve triggered it when we came through the door.”

Chloe frowns at her. “You mean _ I  _ triggered it. And you pushed me out of the way, you disgustingly selfless woman you.” She ducks in and kisses Nadine’s cheek. “I appreciate it, but you aren’t allowed to get hurt, alright?”

Nadine doesn’t answer. They’ll just bicker if she does-- She has no issue taking a blow if it means Chloe goes unharmed. It’s been that way since India. She doesn’t see it changing.

She loves Chloe. And maybe she makes it obvious, or maybe she doesn’t, but she’s known for a long time the way she feels for Chloe. Maybe even since finding the Tusk. So taking a hit for Chloe is nothing. She’d take a punch, a blow, or a bullet if it meant Chloe stayed safe.

“Let’s keep on.”

They come across what’s left of who must’ve been the trap layer about halfway forward. There’s so little left as to be unrecognizable. Nothing but grime on the stonework and softened bits of bone; a partial skull, some teeth, a phalange or two, and a bit of a ribcage.

“Thank they got trapped in here? After whatever happened? Or do you think it was a last ditch effort to protect whatever is in here?”

Nadine shrugs. “No way to know. Let’s hope for the second if only so we find something further in.”

Stepping around the scene, they move on.

There’s a glint in their lights.

Chloe makes an excited noise and moves a bit faster. It doesn’t take long for their flashlights to illuminate a small shrine.

Dead center on the shrine is a framed mirror. Or at least, Nadine assumes it  _ was  _ a mirror; it’s cloudy now and reflects nothing. There are rubies embedded along its edge and gold circling each. There are a few smaller trinkets around the edges, small golden animal figurines. 

Chloe tugs on her arm as she tucks her flashlight back on her belt. “China, I hope you want something nice for Christmas because once we sell those, I can get you  _ anything  _ you want.”

Nadine raises an eyebrow. “Neither of us celebrate Christmas.”

“No, but I’ll use it as an excuse to spoil you. After all, how could I not when we won’t have to worry about money for a good while after this?”

There are the bare remnants of words written below it, but Nadine can’t decipher them. Still holding onto her, Chloe leans forward to try. “These are in rather bad shape… This one here, it could mean anything. Looks close to “water”? They’re all… Might not get anything out of them, honestly. See, what I’m seeing basically means “dish”, but that doesn’t make any sense. It’s an older script, not to mention tiny changes to any character can change the meaning of the word drastically. The wear and tear is just too much.”

Chloe huffs and tugs Nadine closer to the shrine. “Let’s just grab these and go, yeah? I want to spend some time in that hot spring.”

Chloe clings tight to Nadine’s arm as she reaches for the mirror.

And then everything goes black.

* * *

 

Nadine realizes she’s lying on her back. She opens her eyes. There’s a ceiling above her vastly different than the stone roof she’d been under not moments ago. Instead, she seems to be in a completely average house.

She sits up and finds she’s probably in a den of some sort. There are multiple bookshelves, most filled to the brim. There are boxes upon boxes of paper files. More than one cabinet has artifacts displayed. All seem familiar. Some she recognizes. Ghanesh is proudly displayed more than once. Shiva too.

Nadine stands up and realizes she’s not alone.

There’s a desk nearby, all covered in research and stacked books, but in the center lays an open book. Kneeled in the chair at the desk is a young girl with dark hair. She’s maybe seven or eight years old. She’s leaning over the book. She hasn’t noticed Nadine yet.

“Uh… Hello?”

The girl doesn’t respond.

“Miss, I don’t--”

“Bitiya?” a voice calls from outside the room.

“Office!” the girl calls back, still not looking up.

A moment later, a man enters the room. He’s half a head taller than Nadine, clean-shaven, and very clearly Indian. He’s handsome and seems to be in good spirits. With a proud nose and high cheekbones, he looks terribly familiar, but Nadine can’t put a name to the face.

“Sir, I--”

He walks  _ through  _ her. As if she wasn’t there. 

What the hell is going on? Is she a ghost? Did that damn artifact kill her and she’s been tossed in someone’s house and doomed to wander? Or is it something else?

“What book are you nose-deep in now?” he asks as he leans over the desk beside the girl.

She hops off the chair and lets the man sit before she climbs on to his lap. “The one about the Queen and her handmaidens.”

Something about the girl’s voice is familiar. Nadine’s first thought is Meenu, back in India, but she’s not sure if it’s actually what Nadine is reminded of, or if it’s just the combination of a young girl’s voice with an Indian accent.

“You know that one by heart, Bitiya. You’re still reading it?”

“Yes, b āba. It is my favourite.”

“Much to the chagrin of your mother.” He scoots the book closer to them. “Has it taught you anything new?”

“No.”

“Then why not read the new books I brought home?”

The girl huffs and finally turns back to look at him. “There aren’t any girls in those ones.”

Nadine jaw drops. “Chloe?”

Still, she gets no response.

But there’s no doubt, the child in front of her is Chloe. That or her doppelganger. Maybe seven years old, Chloe is sitting in the lap of… is this her father? Maybe that’s why he was so familiar to her. She looks just like her dad. Paler complexioned, but her nose, her face… She shares many things with her father.

But if this is Chloe some thirty years back, why is Nadine there? Why can Nadine see Chloe’s long-dead father?

Her father laughs. “How do you know if you haven’t read them?”

“They never say things about girls.” She makes an annoyed face. Nadine almost laughs: she’s seen her partner make that same expression more times that she can count. There’s no doubt this is her partner as a child. “They always talk about the kings. I already know about the kings.”

“There is always more to know, my child.”

“ B āba, we have a bunch of books on the boys. There’s too many.” She crosses her arms. “When I’m big, I’m going to go find out everything I can about the queen and I’m going to write my own book.”

He laughs and clasps her shoulders. “You, Chloe, are going to be a great anthropologist.”

“Archaeologist!” she insists.

“That’s a specialist anthropologist, my bitiya. But no matter what, you will be great.”

“And you’ll take me to ruins with you!” 

“Father-daughter team of archaeologists.”

The young Chloe looks excited and happy. “We’ll find the tusk together!”

Nadine feels like she’s intruding on a personal moment, especially when she knows what will happen to this happy pair. It’s a story she’s heard piece by piece since her time in the Ghats with Chloe. She’s not sure how long this little Chloe has left with her father, but she knows that it must not be much. Not compared to the time she should get.

There’s so much this young Chloe will do, will go through. So much about her will change, even her accent.

But she will get the tusk.

It’ll just take a lot longer, a lot of sacrifices, and put her through more than she should have to.

Nadine hates to think of all that Chloe, her Chloe, not this child, has gone through. The woman is strong in ways Nadine never could be.

Right now, the girl before her hasn’t suffered yet. Not really.

Nadine almost wishes she could warn them.

“ B āba, how long until you leave again?” The young Chloe is looking up at her father with her pale blue eyes full of unease.

“Not for another month, little one.”

Chloe lights up. “You can catch up on She-ra!”

He laughs in the way of a father who will do what’s asked of him but isn’t as excited as he could be. “Ah, Bitiya, She-ra again. Has anything fun happened since the last episode?”

“She made friends with a dragon,” comes the matter-of-fact statement. “His name is Sorrowful. He’s not a great dragon.” She pushes her way out of his lap and tugs him up. “Come on! Let’s go watch!”

“I’m coming, Chloe, I’m coming.”

Nadine sidesteps them as to not be walked through again. As they head out the door, she hears the young Chloe yell “For the honour of Greyskull!”

Before Nadine can put thought to why she is where she is, the room around her dissolves. When she finds herself standing in a bedroom. It’s bare bones, nothing more than a small bed against one wall and a cot against the other. There’s a small dresser by the door and some suitcases nearby.

Also in the room is the soft sound of someone crying.

Nadine looks around, despite being sure she won’t be allowed to interact with what she sees.

Tucked beside the dresser, hidden away as well as she can be, is a young Chloe. She’s a little older now, but not by much. She’s dressed in simple white clothes. Clutched in her palm is the little teardrop figure of Ghanesh that had been so essential to their adventure in the Ghats.

Nadine says her name once, but she’s still just a ghost in the room.

It hurts Nadine to let the child sit there and cry. Someone should be checking on her, making sure she’s okay. And Nadine is all too certain what’s happened and why she’s here.

Her father has died.

The door opens suddenly and Nadine sees a woman not much taller than herself marches in. She’s a white woman with mousy brown hair in a pristine bun and an angry look on her face. The only thing familiar about her is the colour of her eyes.

This is Chloe’s mother.

She’s dressed all in black. Her makeup is, admittedly, unflattering. She’s looking around the room, probably for Chloe, but rather than offer comfort when she finds her, she frowns.

“You need to go back out there.” Her accent is thick and Australian.

“I’ll go back out in a minute,” Chloe mutters. 

Still, there’s no comfort from the woman. “I don’t know why you wore white.”

Chloe mumbles something in response.

“What was that?”

“You’re supposed to wear white to a Hindu funeral.”

Her mother scoffs and ignores the comment. “Your grandmother was looking for you. You should go see her.”

“Nānī or gran?”

“Gran.”

“Okay.”

Nadine has never seen Chloe look so emotionally small. Certainly this ten or so year old is much smaller than her Chloe, but emotionally she has never seen Chloe curled so far in on herself.

“Are they bringing bāba to mukhagni yet?”

“English, dear. You’ll have to get used to it with us in Australia.” Her mother purses her lips. “They’re taking him for cremation in an hour.”

Chloe stays silent, tears falling down her face. She’s staring at the Ghanesh in her hand.

“I don’t know why you talked so much during the ceremony.”

Still, Chloe is quiet.

Her mum stares at her and it looks like she wants to say more. “Fix your hair and wash your face before you head back out. And change into proper clothes. How can anyone think you’re sad if you’re not in black?”

She leaves.

Nadine wishes she could say something. Chloe’s mother walked in to find her crying in the corner and had proceeded to passive-aggressively belittle her and makes things worse. Nadine is angry and wishes, more than anything, she could help Chloe somehow.

Chloe leaps up once her mother is gone from the room. Storming to the cot, she grabs the pillow and screams into it. After a moment, she throws it across the room and proceeds to let out as many swear words as a child of her age could know.

“I said the mantras because I knew them! Because I wanted to honour my bāba! And Hindu people wear white to mourn!” She stomps, throwing a fit, but Nadine can’t help but see her side of it.

“I will speak whatever language I want to! I called my father bāba and no one can change that!” She falls back, sitting on the cot. “I-- I…” She breaks then, sobbing. “I want my bāba. Why did he have to go? Why did he-- We should’ve stayed here, or, or he could’ve come with us to Australia or....”

Her words dissolve into more tears.

It tears Nadine apart to watch. No child should have to endure such a thing and be left alone with it. The fact her mother had seen her crying and hadn’t even offered a hug was disgusting.

And now Nadine has to watch the mistakes of Chloe’s mother, watch Chloe’s suffering start, and know that it has a long way to go before it ends. If it's ended.

Nadine feels a rush of self-conscious doubt flood her. She needs to make sure Chloe is happy. Next chance she gets.

Nadine realizes what’s happening. She’s seeing some of Chloe’s memories. That artifact must’ve tossed her into them. Maybe Chloe’s experiencing something similar. Or maybe she’s being forced to relive them.

She hopes it’s not the latter.

Eventually, the young Chloe on the cot gets up, wipes the back of her hand over her face, and walks out of the room. She doesn't change or fix herself up. She goes back to her family outside the door as she is.

Nadine wants her Chloe back. Whenever she gets out of whatever is going on, she’s going to hug the hell out of Chloe. Maybe she can get her mother’s address out of her so she can go give her a piece of her mind.

The scene changes again.

Nadine finds herself in another bedroom. This time, it’s well decorated. A variety of posters cover the walls. There’s everything from National Geographic covers to Spice Girls posters. It’s rather messy and unorganized. There’s a sizable desk to the side that Nadine recognizes as the one from Chloe’s father’s office.

A teenage Chloe is laying back on the bed. She’s not alone. Leaned into her side is a girl her age. Chloe is already falling into the sense of style Nadine is familiar with. She’s got a bright red shirt on. What Nadine is surprised about is her hair is a short pixie cut.

The girl with her is a pretty blonde. They’ve got textbooks on their laps, but studying doesn’t seem to be their priority. Instead, they’re chatting, weight against each other. Their hands are entwined.

“Nah, I just… It’s nice when she’s not here. I like when she works late.” Chloe’s Indian accent is gone now. She’s got the Australian accent Nadine is used to.

“Sorry she’s like that. My mum wasn’t too bad. Little nosy at times, but she didn’t care about my preferences.” The blonde’s voice has a much thicker Australian accent.

“Your sister is nice.”

“Yeah. She acts like mum sometimes, but it’s okay.” She turns and nuzzles against Chloe. “Did I tell you your haircut is cute?”

Chloe chuckles. “Yes, I think you did.”

“I can’t believe your mom let you get it.”

She scoffs. “My mother doesn’t let me do anything. I definitely didn’t get her permission before I got it cut.”

The blonde chuckles. “How grounded are you right now?”

“Very. Not even supposed to have you over. But I take risks for pretty girls.”

She grins and raises an eyebrow. “Just pretty?”

“Beautiful, maybe.”

Even now, at the age of seventeen or eighteen, maybe, she’s already good with her words. Nadine isn’t terribly surprised.

She does, however, feel awkward when teen Chloe and the blonde, who must be her girlfriend, kiss.

Nadine turns her attention away from it. Instead, she looks out the door of the bedroom. There’s not a real door, just a curtain poorly attached to the frame above it. She wonders if the door had broken or if it’s been taken off purposely.

There’s noise down the hall, like an opening door. There’s a sense of foreboding about the room, but the girls on the bed don’t notice. Nadine isn’t sure what’s about to happen. It doesn’t bode well.

Sure enough, the curtain is pulled away to show Chloe’s mother. Her mousy hair is turning gray. Her age is showing in her wrinkles as well.

“Chloe Frazer!”

Chloe’s eyes shoot open and she pulls away from the girl. “Mum!”

The blonde is on her feet in half a second. She shoves her textbook in a book bag that’s on the floor, picks up the whole thing and stands between Chloe and her mum.

Chloe’s mother stares her down.

Chloe, still on the bed, says a quiet. “Go, Jane. I’ll be fine.” Her voice is so soft, so terribly un-Chloe that Nadine nearly jumps.

The blonde, Jane apparently, heads around Chloe’s mother and out.

Nadine hears the door a moment later.

Her mother screams at her. She says horrible things, most are homophobic, many attack Chloe personally. Chloe is sitting on the bed with her hands balled into fists. She’s staring down at her lap.

Nadine has never seen Chloe like this before. It’s hard to believe she’d ever let anyone speak to her like this.

“I can’t believe you’re acting like this!” her mother continues on. “What would your father say if he saw you with some tramp?!”

Chloe seems to snap then. She leaps up off her bed. “I think my dad, my  _ bāba _ , would love me for who I am! And Jane is not a tramp, she’s my  _ girlfriend _ !”

There’s a crack as Chloe receives a blow across the face.

Nadine can’t stop it, even though she sees it coming.

Chloe’s silent. She takes a deep breath and turns away from her mother.

“You’re not seeing her again,” her mother growls out.

Chloe doesn’t respond, not directly to that. “Get out of my room.”

“You’re grounded for another month. And you’re going to church with me this Sunday. And you’re working the church dinner.”

Nadine despises Chloe’s mother. With every bone in her body, she wants to give this woman a piece of her mind.

“I don’t care. Get out of my room.”

Her mother tries to say more but Chloe cuts her off. “Out!”

With a huff, her mother turns on her heel and marches away. “And another month without your door!” she calls back over her shoulder.

As soon as she’s gone, Chloe grabs a bag from her closet and starts tossing clothes in it. She’s mumbling to herself as she’s gathering her things. “I’m not going to your damn church. I’m not working the damn dinner. I’m walking away from this damn house. You’re never going to speak to me like that again, you horrible, pathetic little woman.”

Bag full, she grabs her book bag off the ground and heads out her door. Nadine follows. It’s not like she has a choice.

Her mother is in the living room and steps in front of the door when she sees Chloe. “And where do you think you’re going?”

Chloe stares her down. “I’m leaving.”

“Like hell you are.”

Nadine sees now the stubbornness she knows in her own Chloe. The unrelenting force that is Chloe has already started as early in her life as her teens and now her mother needs to get out of her way.

Chloe blinks. Her face is almost expressionless. There’s just a touch of ruthlessness in her eyes.

“I wish you’d died instead of him.”

It’s cruel, but Nadine thinks of the blow her mother had dealt her and can’t find fault with what Chloe’s said.

Her mother gasps, falling back a step, and Chloe takes the opportunity to slip past her and out the door.

The scene changes again.

Chloe is in much better spirits in this memory. She’s sitting with her back against a low stone wall. The view before her is snowy mountains and pale blue sky. Behind her is a simple village that’s had some tragedy hit it recently, judging by the fallen buildings and injured landscape. Despite this, people are about. Livestock is corralled in freshly built fences. Children are playing.

Chloe is calm as she sits with her head back against the wall. Her hair is long again, and it’s loose from the usual ponytail. She’s in a better place than the last memory, certainly, and Nadine is grateful for it. She doesn’t like seeing Chloe in distress.

And this Chloe is much closer to being  _ her   _ Chloe. She’s in her late twenties and has lost the bitterness she’d seemed to harbor in her teens. 

“This seat taken?”

Elena Fisher, a woman Nadine has had the pleasure to meet more than once, has appeared from deeper in the village. She’s younger than Nadine knows her, and furthermore, she's injured. There are bandages visible on her arms and a couple of stitches by her temple. She walks as if she’s pulling on more wounds that aren’t visible under her clothes.

Chloe smiles at her. “For you, Sunshine? Certainly.” She gestures to the spot on the ground beside her.

This must be Tibet, Nadine realizes. She’s been told the story of what happened there. Lazarovitch, Flynn, and Shambala. And that grenade.

Elena tries to ease herself down, but she makes a small noise of pain as she does. Chloe is on her feet in an instant and helping Elena sit. “Easy there. None of us are keen on losing you.”

“I’m fine, Chloe… Just pulled it the wrong way.”

“Well, still. I carried you out of a ruined city once, I don’t know if I could do it again.”

They both get seated before Elena responds.

“I hope you don’t have to do it again. I already don’t know how to pay you back for the first time.” She smiles at her. “I feel like I owe you for a lot.”

Chloe raises an eyebrow. “Okay, for helping you get out, I’ll take. But I honestly don’t know what else you could owe me for.”

Elena shrugs. “I don’t know, just… You’re still treating me, well…  _ Well _ . Even with Nate and…”

Chloe clicks her tongue. “Elena, I’m not about to let him become some sort of wall between you and me being friends. He and I didn’t work. But you-- listen, I get why he likes you. You’ve seen yourself, right?”

She chuckles a bit. “I just appreciate that you didn’t treat me as a rival or a threat and that, that we can be friends.”

“I mean, I wasn’t exactly nice to you when we first met.”

“I think we were both angry at Nathan around then.”

Chloe frowns. “I was. I… I’m pretty used to my partners, romantic or otherwise, leaving or putting me at risk for their own personal gain.” A sigh. “Wouldn’t have been the first time. I just expected to have to pick up the slack and…”

She goes quiet.

This Chloe is foreign to Nadine in some ways. In others, Nadine seems to know her better than herself. It’s strange because her Chloe has grown so much since the time she’s witnessing, but there are core parts to her that aren’t at all different.

“I’m sorry he died.” The whisper from Chloe is so soft, Nadine barely hears it.

Elena leans her head back. “Thank you. And… you know it wasn’t your fault, right?”

Chloe looks away. “Would’ve been if I’d convinced you two away.”

“But you didn’t. And I understand why you did what you did. Even if I don’t agree with it.”

“You do?”

“I think so.”

Nadine sits across from them, watching the interaction. The memories are getting closer to the present and she has no way to do anything more, so all she can do is wait until this has run its course. She’s learning more about her partner, anyway.

“What I don’t understand…”

“What’s that, Sunshine?”

Elena purses her lips and looks over at Chloe. “Jeff only got shot. He was in a bad way, but… In our situation, he had at least some hope. When… when the grenade went off. I was in a worse way. We were at least a mile from the entrance to the city, we would’ve had to go even farther to get me help… I even told you to leave me behind. Why did you still help me?”

Again, Chloe won’t meet Elena’s eyes. She bites her lip, and after a long moment, simply shrugs. “Hard to explain.”

“Try me.”

Chloe lets out a soft huff. “Alright, well… I guess I knew you a bit better by then. And even though I'd done all that shitty stuff, you still helped Nate go after me. And he-- he does that crap because he tries to be all noble and save a damsel in distress. He felt responsible. You… you're just a good person. You had no skin in the game. But you helped him go after me.” She taps her foot. “And sometimes maybe you're a bit daft when you're being a good person-- because Harry wasn't worth it, love. Not one bit. I'm glad he's rotting, really. But you just keep trying to help. That's… ugh, I guess that's why.”

Elena is about to respond when Chloe cuts back in. “And, by the way, you seem not to have held any of what I did against me! Like how can you be such an angel? I can’t go a week without committing some petty crime or other.”

Elena laughs. “You’re sweet.”

“See? There you go again.”

More laughter. “You are.” She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. “If it counts for anything, I really am sorry it turned out the way it did.”

“Yeah, me too. No money and you got hurt. I’ve definitely had better jobs.” She catches Elena raising an eyebrow. “Oh, you mean the Nate thing again. Seriously, Sunshine, no hard feelings. Probably wouldn’t have worked out anyway. He’s so smug when something stupid works out for him.”

“It can be charming,” Elena tries to defend.

Chloe smirks. “If you want real charm, you should hang out with me a bit more.” Her voice is a bit huskier than usual, and Nadine knows it’s a serious offer. She knows when Chloe’s flirting, even if they’re still dancing along the line of partners and lovers themselves.

Despite this, they both play it off as a joke. Their heads are bowed together in a comfortable way. Nadine knows that now, in her own time a near decade after what she’s watching, Chloe and Elena are close friends. This is the solid base of a friendship she’s watching. And Elena, Nadine knows, is a lovely person. She’s kind and sweet, but she’s also a stubborn and strong-willed woman who doesn’t take any shit. She’s the right kind of influence on Chloe.

“Chloe?”

“Yup?”

“You are a good person, you know.”

Chloe scoffs. “No, I don’t think I am… Some days, though, I want to be.”

“And other days?”

She just shrugs. “I don’t know.”

“Wanting to be is the first step, you know.”

And then they’re quiet.

Unlike the smooth transition of the last memories, this one grows foggy. Nadine knows they’re still talking, but she can’t hear the words. Maybe it’s things Chloe has forgotten. Maybe it’s just inconsequential small talk. Either way, the scene fades out around her.

The fog turns warm and she realizes it’s steam.

The next room she’s pulled into has her standing in a much smaller room. It’s a steamy bathroom and vaguely familiar. It seems like a standard hotel bathroom-- and judging by the monogram on the towels, it’s the one they’d stayed in maybe a month after leaving India. They’d been in… Had it been London yet? Or were they still stopped in Spain?

And this Chloe is most definitely  _ her  _ Chloe. She knows from the scar on her arm as well as the nearly healed cuts on her shoulder. It’s also the look on face and her general demeanor.

Now that she thinks of it, they must be in Spain. She remembers that night well. It’s a treasured memory.

Chloe is leaning on the sink, staring at her own reflection. She must have been out of the shower for maybe ten minutes. She’s managed to put her pajama pants on and a bra, but her shirt is still to the side.

“Alright, Chloe,” she says to herself. “Don’t fuck this up. She’s out there and… ugh, for some reason, she’s actually sticking around. She hasn’t left you. Yet. So talk to her. Apologize, dammit, you shouldn’t have picked that fight. If you scare her off, what’s the damn point anymore?”

Nadine remembers the argument they’d had that day. She doesn’t really remember what it was about, but she remembers they’d fought about something or other and getting back to the hotel room they’d both been quiet. They’d ignored each other.

“You can’t fucking lose her,” Chloe hisses at herself. She sighs and looks down at herself. She’s got a few bad bruises. Nadine remembers the blows that caused them-- And breaking the arms of the men who’d made them.

Is this really what she’d been saying to herself that night?

“Alright, stop feeling sorry for yourself and fix things.” Chloe pushes away from the sink, pulls her shirt on, and heads back into the hotel room.

Nadine follows. She has to.

She sees herself, sitting on the edge of her hotel bed and staring out the window. Pointedly ignoring that Chloe has reentered the room. She remembers not knowing how to proceed to make things better and freezing there.

What’s more alarming is the fact the Chloe she’s followed into the room is now the second Chloe in the room.

Before she can really find out what’s going on, she’s tackled by the Chloe that had already been in the room.

“China!” she hears before being kissed hard. She responds as best she can.

It’s not the first time they’ve kissed. That had happened on another job, where Chloe had gotten drunk and kissed her. The next morning Chloe had only just remembered and seemed almost embarrassed about it. She had asked if they could just ignore that it had happened, since she'd been drunk and “used no actual sense of seduction or anything”, in her own words.

This kiss, it feels different. More grounding. And Chloe certainly isn't drunk.

When Chloe finally pulls away, she gives a dazzling grin. “It’s good to see you--  _ my  _ you. Have you been stuck in my memories the way I have yours?”

“Uh, ja.”

Chloe pulls her into a tight hug. She uses the close proximity to press a gentle kiss to the meaty area between her neck and shoulder. “I missed you.”

Nadine is about to respond in like, but the other her, the past her starts speaking. Chloe looks back, expression dropping a bit.

“Introspection…. Pah. Do you think we’re meeting up like this because this is a memory we’re both attached to?”

Nadine shrugs. “I suppose. Wish I knew how to get us out of here.” She’s still watching her past self, as well as Chloe’s past self, talking things out.

“Eh, we’re almost to present day. I’m sure we’ll be out soon.”

Nadine keeps an arm slung around Chloe’s waist and her eyes on the memory. “Did you really think I’d leave you?”

“What?”

She jerks a thumb towards the bathroom. “In there… You talked to yourself. Said I hadn’t left you  _ yet _ .” She meets Chloe’s eyes. She seems hurt by the implication she’d leave her partner. “You really thought that?”

Chloe looks down, sighs, and then looks back up. “I’m not sure what you got to see but… I’m pretty used to people leaving me. Or pushing me away, or… Whatever.” She gestures out to the room, where the past them is finally sitting down together. “This is where I realized you wanted to stay… I don’t get this sort of thing often. Someone making the effort to keep me around or… Or me making the effort to stay.”

“I’m glad you did.” Nadine shrugs. “Eish, I just… I’m not sure where I’d be if this hadn’t gone the right way.”

“Me either, darling.”

They both watch their past selves for another long moment. They’re embracing. Both know that they went on to sleep in the same bed that night. They hadn’t done more than that; they just held each other. It was comforting and reassuring and exactly what they each needed.

At the thought, Nadine pulls Chloe back into a warm hug. Chloe is all too willing into it.

“Next time don’t touch the damn artifact when we don’t know what it does,” Nadine grumbles against her partner, eyes squeezed tight.

Chloe laughs. “How was I to know we’d get tossed into each other’s minds? It was just a mirror.”

Nadine opens her eyes, about to respond something about not taking risks, when she realizes where they are.

“We’re back.”

“What?”

She pulls away, letting Chloe look about.

“Oh. We’re back.”

They’re standing in the wide stone room. The shrine at the end of the room is untouched. The mirror sits there, now perfectly clear. The shrine itself is spotless; gone is the grime and dirt. Their flashlights are laying on the floor, faithfully illuminating what they can.

Rather than go for it, Chloe lets her back slide down the wall until she’s sitting. She seems all at once tired. “So, China… What memories of mine did you see? Because I’m assuming that what we just got through. Watching each other’s memories.”

Nadine takes a seat beside her. “Uh… You and your father. You were young. Maybe eight. And you were reading in his office.” She smiles a bit as she thinks of it. “You were complaining there weren’t enough books on the Hoysala women. You said you were going to write your own book. After you became an archaeologist yourself.”

Chloe smiles and leans against Nadine. “I remember that. He was always very supportive of my learning. Always brought me a book home after he’d been away for a while. I still have one or two. What else?”

“Eish, uh. Your fathers funeral. Part of it. You were… crying. And your mother came in just to chastise you.” She scowls. “I don’t like your mother.”

“You and me both. My rebellious phase started around then and lasted until… actually, I think I’m still in my rebellious phase.”

Nadine snorts. “Speaking of your rebellious phase, I got to see you with short hair. It looked good.”

“Ah, twelfth year! I remember that. Mum was in a right snit about it.” She cuts off, suddenly silent. “Which… Which memory with that did you see?”

Nadine understands her hesitance. Not everyone would be as understanding about what they’d seen there. But Chloe had been young and her mother was, and likely still is, abusive. Even if that was the first time she’d struck Chloe, it wasn’t the first time she’d said something nasty just to hurt her. Mental abuse is still abuse.

“When she walked in on you and your girlfriend.”

“Ah. Jane.” Chloe takes a deep breath and sighs. “I was afraid of that…”

Nadine leans a bit heavier against Chloe. “You've got nothing to be ashamed of.”

“I… I know.” She breathes in deep through her nose and lets it out as slow as she can. “It was the last straw. The things she said to me, when she hit me… I couldn't take it anymore. So I left.”

“You walked away.”

“Yes. I walked away.” Chloe sounds like she's about to cry. “But I wanted to hurt her. I… I said what I did, and I'm not ashamed of it, but I wanted to hurt her so badly.”

Nadine tugs Chloe against her. She couldn’t help her then, but she can now. “You got out of it. You’re a better person than she ever was.”

Chloe surrenders to the hug as she takes deep breaths to control herself. “I’m sorry you had to see that. I didn’t want you to ever have to… deal with my mother.”

“Oh, I don’t know. I’d like to meet her.”

She looks incredulous. “You would?”

“I would love to terrify your mother. Could you imagine if she saw you with muscled dyke?” Nadine grins. “I could play it up too. Maybe I borrow a leather jacket of yours. We can put a rainbow patch on it. Maybe I’d wear a plaid shirt under it.”

Chloe laughs, wiping her eyes a bit. “You’re biceps are too big for any of my leather jackets. We can get you your own. Or maybe a leather vest, so I can still  _ see  _ your lovely biceps.” She sets a hand on one. “We’d definitely have to play it up. Maybe kiss a bit. We could be the happiest couple for miles.”

“Get back at her by living well. A woman as bitter as that could never be even half as happy as us.”

Chloe hums, looking rather content as she takes in an eyeful of Nadine. “We are pretty happy, aren’t we?”

“I know I am.”

Chloe looks like she’s going to say something but she breaks eye contact. “So, uh… Anything else? Or was it straight on to that night in Spain?”

Nadine shifts, getting more comfortable with Chloe practically in her lap. “One more before that. You and Elena chatting. Tibet, from what I could tell.”

“You’d have to be more specific. We had a few chats before I left.”

“You were on the edge of the village, against a fence.” She taps her fingers on her knee. “It sounded like you had just ended up friends, n è ? Talked about how you got her out of Shambala. And… about someone dying. She was trying to make sure you were okay too. You also flirted with her a bit.”

Chloe seems happier to reminisce about this memory, even if it seems bittersweet.

“Ah. Yes… I remember. You can't blame me for flirting, by the way-- you've seen her.” She takes a deep breath. “Haven’t thought about it in a while, the talks I had with her.” Nadine hears the reservation in her voice. It’s not common, but it’s easy to pick out compared to her usual. “I should call Elena when we get back.”

“You two are close.”

“Oh, you already knew that.”

“Ja, but I didn’t know how far back it went.”

Chloe shrugs. “You know most of it. Especially now.”

“She’s a good influence on you, bokkie.”

She snorts. “I’d argue, but you’re right. She’s entirely too good of a person. She was… She was the first person to know too much about me and still… Willingly be my friend.” She rolls her shoulders and glances at Nadine. “Why don’t we talk about your memories instead? Mine are… tiring.”

“Eish, mine are too.”

“What do you mean?” She shifts, turning to face Nadine completely. “I got to see the cutest kid grow into a lovely young lady and now I have you, this stunning, beautiful, and deadly woman, as my partner. How on earth did I get this lucky?”

Nadine groans. “There’s a lot of me before… before my twenties, that I didn’t like.”

A soft kiss is pressed to her cheek. “All I saw was what makes my favourite person the way she is.”

A sigh. “What  _ did  _ you see?”

Chloe reaches up and traces Nadine’s jawline. “The first one was learning prayers with your grandmother. How a child so absolutely tiny could end up as this muscled creature I see before me, I’ll never know.”

“Hard work.”

The statement is ignored. “After that, it was some training with your pops. He mentioned you getting beat up at school. Foreign concept, by the by, you getting beat up and not you beating someone up.”

“I… I'd only just started training with him. I had no experience when those kids attacked me.”

“I'm sure they learned their lesson the next time they thought to jump a Ross.”

She only shrugs. “It took time before I could really protect myself. I didn't start gaining muscle until my teens, really.”

“And what glorious muscle it is. And speaking of your teens-- I saw you come out. To your old man.” She chuckles. “I'm a bit envious. Your experience far surpassed mine.”

Nadine actually grins at that. “I was lucky. He might not have understood it, but he supported me.” She leans back and closes her eyes as she thinks on it. “He didn't take any shit from his men about it, either. He killed a man for talking crap. After that, the others shut up.”

“I see that's where you get your deadliness from.”

Nadine chuckles but doesn’t really respond. It gives Chloe an open space to bring up the next. “Before the coming out memory, though, I did get to see-- you were maybe ten or eleven-- you working near elephants? Like, cleaning areas and helping build fences and what not. I’m not even sure why I saw it, because I… I dunno. Not much happened. You looked at some elephants. Then a rabbit. I mean, you love animals, so I guess that makes sense, but still.”

Perking up, Nadine nods. “Ja! I got to see a riverine rabbit! They’re endangered. And I got to help with rescued elephant calves there.” She pauses. “Eish, uh. A lot of that memory was what I was thinking. So you didn’t get that bit.”

“What were you thinking?”

She shrugs. “I… Gran passed a couple of months earlier. Didn't know it then, but I was depressed. Pops sent me to the elephant reserve early. I was angry because I thought he was trying to get rid of me.”

“What was he really doing?” Chloe prompts. She's a comforting weight against Nadine's side.

“Sending me somewhere I enjoyed being. The animals made me feel better.” She rubs the back of her neck, sheepish. “It's probably stupid.”

“Uh uh, China. No way. It is  _ not _ stupid. If they make you happy, they make you happy. It's not hurting anyone.” Chloe tugs at her. “I like when you teach me things. I don't know crap about animals, except what you've taught me.”

Nadine smiles, her cheeks going a bit pink. “Danke.”

“Plus, you put up with all my crap. Why would I ever begrudge you your facts?”

She hums. “Anything else? Or can we move on?”

Chloe lights up. “I got to see you when you were like twenty or so, absolutely destroying like five other people in hand to hand combat. I think you were sparring? And some woman was instructing you from the sidelines.”

“Tall woman? Blond?”

“Yup.”

“She trained me when I was younger. My father hired her so I could be trained by a woman.”

Chloe puts a hand on Nadine’s bicep and squeezes a bit. “You learned well. Mm. All five of them went after you at once and you won in the same number of minutes! If even! Think you could still do that?”

A shrug. “Probably. Depends on the men.”

Chloe practically moans. “We should see if we can set that up. I would give you the  _ best  _ reward, I promise.”

“Ja?” It’s dark, but Nadine can see the sultry look on her partner’s face. It’s far from unappealing.

“Oh, yes. Hell, it’s more than a decade late, but I’ll reward you for what I saw in that memory.” She’s on her knees now, leaning a bit closer to Nadine. “We’re not in an ideal location for it, but I’ll certainly give you a down payment.”

Nadine chuckles but gives a nod of consent.

Chloe doesn’t hesitate.

The kiss is hot and heavy, and Chloe’s hands are straying over Nadine’s torso and up her back. Nadine’s hands stay anchored on Chloe’s hips. She has to resist the urge to let more happen rather than just this “down payment” Chloe’s offering. She can only imagine the rest of it. She won’t need to if they get out of here soon.

Chloe pulls away as if she knows what Nadine is thinking. “C’mon. Let’s go. I mean-- I want to take a dip in that hot spring first. But let’s grab our treasure first, yeah?”

She hops up and offers her hand to Nadine. Nadine takes it and, as she had been earlier, gets tugged back over to the shrine.

“Oh! The words are clear now.” Chloe releases Nadine’s hand and kneels down to get a clear look. Her flashlight is still laying on the ground by the shrine, so she scoops it up to light the words.

“What’s it say?”

“Uh… From what I can tell, “water and blood”.”

“Water and blood?”

“Yup… Hm. Maybe that’s why touching the mirror did that?”

“What do you mean?”

She holds up her hand. “Well, I cut my hand earlier.” The cut has stopped bleeding and started scabbing over. ‘After reaching into the water.”

“Sucked me in too, though.”

Chloe thinks on that for a moment. “That scrape on your shoulder. I touched it. Barely bled, but apparently it was enough. And I was holding onto your arm.”

Nadine, ever a skeptic, crosses her arms but doesn’t say anything. But, when Chloe reaches for the mirror, she grabs Chloe’s wrist.

“What?”

“Let’s not… risk that happening again.”

Chloe laughs. “What would you suggest?”

After a moment of thought, Nadine shrugs her shirt off. “‘It’s ripped anyway.”

Her partner doesn’t even bother looking at the mirror. She is unashamed as she looks over Nadine. “Mm. Faster we get in that hot spring, the better I’ll feel.”

Nadine scoffs but wraps her shirt around the mirror. “It’s water you’re convinced sent us through each other memories.”

“But it’s so relaxing!” she practically whines. “And I’d get to see you naked…”

“In the light from a flashlight. In a room one over from the remains of that poor sap.” She gestures back to the pile of bone fragments behind her.

“But a different room!”

Nadine raises an eyebrow. “We don’t know if there’s more hidden in the spring.”

Chloe  _ pouts _ . “You just had to ruin it for me.”

She rolls her eyes. “Chloe, if we get back to the hotel, there’s a bed-- two of them, actually-- that we can retire to. And we can visit a hot spring before we leave Japan.”

“Ugh. Fine. Let’s go then. You grab the mirror, I’ll grab the little figures. And that tantō, when we get back to it.” She grumbles as she scoops up the little golden animals.. “You better believe we’re having fun when we get back. A hot shower, first, and then I’m going to kiss you silly.”

“You’re welcome to kiss me silly. But we’re not skinny dipping in a hot spring that might have the remnants of people in it.” She hoists the mirror up off the shrine. It’s dense, and heavier than expected for something maybe twenty centimeters across.

“Hm. Hike down will be faster than up, right?”

“Ja.”

“Good.” She takes a deep breath. “I really did enjoy seeing what makes you you, darling. Helps me understand how you are now.”

Nadine looks up, meeting her partner’s eyes. She’s seen now, what makes Chloe the way she is. The love of learning, the rebelliousness, the unwillingness to let anyone treat her poorly, and the drive to keep moving, keep improving. Impossibly, she loves her even more than she did even a day ago.

“I… enjoyed what I got to learn about you,” she admits. “But I hate everything bad that happened to you. Everything your mother put you through. You didn’t deserve it.”

Chloe’s smile turns sad. She sets down one of the figures and reaches out to caress Nadine’s cheek. “Thank you. But all of that… it’s what made me this way. Who I am.”

Nadine gulps. “I like who you are. But if I could’ve done anything to stop you from being hurt… To stop her from saying those things. I would have. You deserved better.”

Chloe kisses her gently. “There’s nothing you can do about that. The fact you want to already means you’re too good for me.” She shrugs and smiles again. “And I got better. I got you.” She sighs. “Now… why don’t we make off with our treasure? Sooner we get back to the hotel, sooner I can reward you for that amazing fight you won.”

Nadine chuckles. “Ja. Let’s head back.”

**Author's Note:**

> okay so. my usual canon for Chloe is not having a good mom if that's not obvious. it's basically me projecting but you know what they say. write what you know.  
> thank you for reading! find me on tumblr as Chloe-gayzer.


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